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Silas Duane Boston, 75, Charged with Murdering British Couple in 1978
Silas Duane Boston, a 75-year-old former Sacramento resident, was arrested last week in Paradise, California, and arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney. Boston entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of first-degree maritime murder.
According to court documents, Boston owned a sailboat named the Justin B. between June and July 1978. He would often take tourists on excursions in the western Caribbean Sea. The indictment alleges that Boston bound two British tourists, a 25-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, covered their heads with plastic bags, attached weights to their bindings, and pushed them overboard, drowning them. Their bodies were found on about July 8, 1978, off the coast of Punta de Manabique, Guatemala.
The investigation into their deaths stalled and eventually the case went cold. However, the Sacramento Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, the FBI, and the Greater Manchester Police Department re-examined the case, leading to Boston’s indictment.
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert stated, ‘This case is the product of diligent work by the Sacramento Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, the FBI, and the Greater Manchester Police Department. Kudos are especially due to the Sacramento Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, whose persistent investigative efforts made this prosecution possible.’
This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and the Sacramento Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew D. Segal, Heiko P. Coppola, and Jeremy J. Kelley are prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Boston faces a maximum statutory penalty of death or life in prison, but the United States is not seeking the death penalty in this case. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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